CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — A plot of land has been sitting empty for decades in Cleveland Heights despite multiple attempts to develop it.
On Tuesday, that all changed as the $66 million Cedar-Lee-Meadowbrook project broke ground.
"I'm just really proud of the consistent effort put into make this a reality," Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren said.
The Cedar-Lee-Meadowbrook project, called "The Marquee at Cedar Lee," will have a downstairs filled with retail and restaurant space and 206 apartment units hopefully filled with people ready to contribute to the Cedar-Lee neighborhood's entrepreneurial spirit.
It's something Mitchell's Chocolates owner Emily Bean is excited for.
"There's a lot of side streets and a lot of people that walk up and down the street and visit our businesses on a daily basis. What's great is this is going to create lots of diversity of the type of people who are going to walk in our neighborhood and live here and call Cleveland Heights home," Bean said.
Cleveland Heights Council President Melody Joy Hart frequents the area and says this project is also about linking the neighborhood together.
"It's like two sections of a business district instead of one business district because we have this gap here, so this is going to fill it in, make it more vibrant. This is more vibrant anyway, this is really going to jazz it up," Hart said.
Jazz it up, and hopefully bring in some excitement.
"We have been inundated with passionate comments from business owners from this district really wanted to see something happen here," Seren said.
Construction on The Marquee at Cedar Lee is projected to be completed by early 2025.